Stuff With Thing

Been a day. Ralph did something with Spyware blockers which made me unable to access the net all day.Grrr.

Further updates, on rethinking the Kris Kringle thing, realised that may not be a good idea to change, things work the way they are already and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Money can be put aside during the year for stuff.

Mailed the last of the ebay stuff today. All sorted.

Got things to make mum and dads 35th wedding anniversary present. Going to do something with photo’s but not sure what. Was kinda sad going through the photo albums and seeing pictures of friends and family who have passed away. I’m only 31 I shouldn’t know so many dead people.

Washed the car seat covers on Sunday night so this morning I cleaned the car out before putting the seats back in. Don’t think the car has ever been so clean since we purchased it - on the inside anyway, the outside is still filthy :grin.

Defrosted the freezer in anticipation of our Chrisco hamper order arrive in December. Also got went through the Chrisco catalogue and ordered our Christmas food hamper for 2007 plus gift vouchers for presents. For our food hamper orders I got the Oven Roasts, Family Meats and Oriental Star Deal. I find the pantry fillers and hampers with cereals, drinks, and festive foods not as good value as the meat hampers. The other stuff I can buy during the year and stock up on, the meat I can’t. Plus we don’t buy brand name cereals, drinks etc so it is really much cheaper to buy the store brand.

Once the freezer was cleaned out I got the girls back inside and they were filthy, they had been playing in the sandpit, plus covered themselves in chalk and found some paint from somewhere. So bathtime. While they had a abath I cleaned the shower as it was getting pretty feral.

I got some washing in off the line, hung one load out, put another on but forgot to hang it out before the light started fading. Did one load of dishes but not the second lot. Never got around to vaccuming or mopping the floor as I figured those were best left to after I defrosted the freezer.

Finally got around to purchasing beans for Annie’s bean bag so that is all full up again. The girls were more interested in running around with it than sitting on it though. Annie got a lolly bag at childcare today and after she’d eaten the lollies she filled the bag with leaves to make a bean bag for her teddy. Too cute.

Annie got a little ratty this afternoon so I asked her to help me fill the recycling bin and she followed me to the rubbish saying “recycling mummy, how romantic” my little greeny :grin

FIL came over to dinner tonight. He made a lovely shepherds pie for us which despite being enough for two meals we ate in one meal. Even Annie at all her dinner and wanted more.

Ralph, FIL and I discussed what we are doing on Christmas Eve. There is a big family do on for lunch at one of my SILs place. We decided for dinner we’d go back to FILs where we are staying the night and have BBQ sausages in bread. Am really worried about offending SIL who is hosting Christmas Eve lunch so I sent out an email to the whole family tonight that will hopefully make it clear we are just doing a casual thing after the big party.

Got a bit of stitching done over the last few days and have finally finished half of the William Morris Bell Pull for mums birthday/christmas present.

Here is a picture of what the finished design should look like.

Here is where I am up to now.

And this is the bit I worked on over the weekend -

Ralph accidentally brought the masterkey to work home with him on Friday so we had to hop in the car and drive him back to work straight away as they couldn’t lock up without it.

On Thursday night at the Star Awards Ceremony for Sodexho Ralph won an iPod for excellence in customer service. Very cool

My Dad was in Melbourne for a medical conference and we caught up with him on Saturday night. The girls and Ralph went to a cousins birthday party in the afternoon while I caught a train in to the city to meet Dad and bring him home to our place.

Was a bit scary waiting for the train as I still have very short hair from when I cut it off for the Leukemia foundation fundraiser. I was carrying the bag Ralph got from the Sodexho awards on Thursday night and it has a sort of rainbow pattern on it. Some stupid boys were calling me an ‘F’ing lesso’ and other unpleasant names. Fortunatly Greensborough is a busy station and there were other people there but if those kids had gotten on the train I wouldn’t have.

Apparently the birthday part was a bust, it was in a park that closed at 5pm, party didn’t start until 4.30pm and it was freezing cold, so Ralph and the girls came home early. That meant the girls got to spend more time with Dad, and he could help put them to bed which we all enjoyed.

Sunday morning we remembered Daylight savings and got to Church on time. I was doing usher duty so Annie helped me hand out the pew bulletins. Half way through the bible readings Annie ran down the front of the Church and gave Pastor Brett a drawing she’d made, cute but embarressment! Heidi helped me collect the offering and take it up the front. (that was after we’d both got kicked out of Sunday School :grin).

Dad came out to our place for lunch. We’d just gotten home and I was in my Church clothes and wanted to get the dishes done before Dad got here so I threw an apron on to stop the clothes getting dirty. Put a bandanna on while I was getting the washing in and then went to check on my ebay listings when Ralph snapped this picture of me -

Ralph calls that my Whistlers Mother picture.

Drove Dad out to the airport, came home via Coles where I found the cutest little party set for Matts birthday celebration at Playgroup.

Drove in our driveway and almost ran over two toddlers who were riding their bikes around - with no helmets (we have a very steep drive, block of 18 units, fair bit of traffic :grrr). Seems on of the residents was having a party at their place - in the driveway, just on the turn at the steepest part. Not happy. Thankfully I was going very slow and the brakes are good in our car, still scary. Didn’t stop the kids from riding around in the drive, once I’d gone past their parents just picked up their beers again and sat down.

Ralph was considerate enough to let me have a lovely nap after that scare. Now I’m trying to get the girls to sleep while he has a nap.

Also had a long chat to one of my SILs about Christmas and getting rid of the Kris Kringle amongst the adults which I think is a great idea. Better to just give presents to my single BIL and FIL, then they get a better value gift and we have some spare cash at a very expensive time of year.

Heidi and I got kicked out of Sunday School this morning, apparently we were too disruptive. Annie sat there like an angel the whole time and as we walked out the door turned to the teacher and said “I’m a good girl, mummy is too naughty.”

Yesterday was fun. Got off to a rocky start but improved. Did craft activities at playgroup. Then went to McD’s for lunch, all very civilised :grin.

S and Nanna J came over to dinner in the evening which was lots of fun. Took heaps of cool photo’s then hid the camera so S couldn’t erase them, now I can’t remember where the camera is - oops.

Dinner was yummy and it was great fun relaxing with friends who didn’t mind the girls jumping and climbing all over them. Heidi kept calling S “daddy” which was cute but weird.

Ralph was out late for a work function so Heidi of course refused to sleep. Annie went to bed very easily once I got her doona and pillow (she was sleeping in our bed but wanted her own stuff). Heidi sat in her cot asking “where are you Daddy” for half an hour before she went to sleep.

20 minutes after Heidi finally fell asleep telemarketers rang, I told them “you woke my children I’m going to kill you” then hung up. Thankfully Ralph came home shortly after that and Heidi happily snuggled with Daddy and then went to sleep.

This morning our owner showed up at 9am to do some repairs. Wasn’t expecting him until later in the day, although in hindsight I should have been prepared early. I was just told he would be here Friday not a specific time so D’oh for not getting ready early.

Dishes were not done after dinner last night*, kitchen/dining floor still not mopped. I’d vac’d the living room on Wednesday but it was a bit messy + blankets and doona’s everywhere.

*for the record, Ralphs turn to do the dishes but he didn’t and so why do I feel guilty?

The owner had been too sick to come to the rental inspection a few weeks back so he was doing a mini inspection along with the repairs today. Really I should have been more organised.

Now I feel all defensive and guilty about the mess, but the rubbish bins were emptied, no dirty nappies sitting on coffee tables. The girls were having breakfast in the kitchen, not drawing on the walls, thankfully the walls were unusually free of toddler artwork.

So I shouldn’t feel bad but I do, I feel like I am the worst housekeeper in the world all because some guy I’ve never met before raised an eyebrow at my dirty dishes.

GAH!

As Ralph was leaving for work today he told me I should take Annie to the doctor to get a bite on her back checked out. We saw the doctor and it is a spider bite but not infected - phew. Doctor also asked if I’d got the referral for Annie’s ceoliac test last time I was in. That was a sore point as her collegue refused to give me the referral, thankfully she gave it to me with no issues. So Annie is seeing a paed gastroenterologist next month.

After the doctors I thought I’d go to Aldi and get the groceries. Went to Aldi at Heidelberg which is across the road from the Sara Lee factory outlet so of course I had to go to Sara Lee to see what was on special. :grin

Walked past Gilmores Shoes on the way to Sara Lee and they had a size 15 pair of Mens black work shoes on sale $50 so I got them for Ralph - reduced from $300!!! Bargain! Go Me!

Also got a folder for my scrapbook pages for half price plus lots of yummy stuff from Sara Lee. So it was a very happy visit to Heidelberg for me today and made up for the stuff with the landlord.

No public toilets at Heidelberg though so Annie pee’d in her car seat on the way home. Raining now so I can’t hang it out to dry yet, hopefully will clear up later.

My work in progress shot. Slow going recently.

Went out to the Preston market for pizza and checked our post office box over there.

Was lots of fun and a nice break although Heidi got very grumpy towards the end. She fell asleep on drive home which is good.

Got home to find the washing machine going and the computer turned off which is the opposite of how I left them. Seems we had a blackout here while I was out. Funny that the washing machine responds to a blackout by turning itself on. Will have to remember that and switch it off at the wall in future.

Good Morning Marita,

Thank you for your contact regarding our Greensborough store.

Kmart is committed to ranging quality, value for money products. We are always looking for opportunities to ensure our range of merchandise meets the specific needs of our customers and we value any feedback about our product range.

We have forwarded your comments to our buyer for consideration in the next range review.

Thank you for contacting us regarding this matter. Your feedback is appreciated and we look forward to your future custom at Kmart.

Yours Sincerely,

(name deleted)
Kmart Customer Relations

There is nothing quite like a rainy day to make small people happy. Heidi is running and up down the backyard with her arms stretched out, singing ‘weeeeee’. Annie managed to dress herself and is out there using the feather duster as an umbrella. Very cute both of them.

Yesterday was fun. SIL brought her sons over and they played with Heidi while Annie was at daycare. We watched ‘Over the Hedge’ which she had not seen and I’d missed the end of at the cinema. Good movie, lots of laughs.

Made a very good dinner last night - beef and vegetable stew. First time in about two weeks I’ve managed to cook something edible for dinner. Thank you Maggi Hot Pot mix.

I learnt a very important lesson after dinner last night. Never talk politics with my FIL - We were talking about newspaper stuff and how sometimes the journo’s bias shows through. I mentioned a recent Herald Sun article that on the surface was pro the Green party but on deeper reading was subtly undercutting the Greens platform. The election stuff makes for fascinating reading some days.

FIL took that and ran with it on a two hour rant about the evils of immigrants speaking their own languages and not learning english. Apparently Australia may well become the next Canada with French as a required second language. And next thing you know we are all going to have to learn Mexican also because that is all the Southern states of the USA speak and soon they will force the northern states to speak Mexican also. Which turned into a diatribe about the German and Italian immigrants.

Ralph came to bed at 1am which either woke Annie up or she was already awake and took the opportunity to get up herself. Did not successfully get her back to sleep until 3am. All her night time wanderings woke Heidi up as well. Yet both of them managed to be up and chirpy at 6am. Gah!

The boy is not feeling well, perhaps because he keeps coming to bed at 1am. He is talking about coming home early today. Think Heidi would love that. She is wandering around the house now looking in every room saying ‘Daddy where are you’.

Very puzzled about the weirdo’s on the internet this morning. I can’t make sense of what most people are posting. Maybe I just need more coffee.